Sunday's Column - September 12, 2010

More by
Marilyn

Many birds in the Northern Hemisphere fly south for the winter. Do birds in the Southern Hemisphere fly north? —K. Oshima, San Mateo, Calif. Yes, some do, but the migration behavior of birds that nest in the southern half of the planet is much less well-documented. The disparity is due to the fact that the Northern Hemisphere has far more land mass for breeding, so its annual migrations are dramatic. For that reason, European and North American countries have developed both advanced ornithological research and large communities of bird-watchers.

By the way, the longitudinal-migration champion is the Arctic tern. It nests in the North Pole region. When the weather there gets too cold, it heads south—all the way to Antarctica!

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